A 66-YEAR-OLD Winston Park resident scared off would-be burglars from his home at about 3am last Friday morning by activating his alarm, but the panic button is alleged to have failed in altering his security company of the incident.
Noel Kelly lives alone in a granny cottage away from the main house. “I heard a noise and got up to have a look around and went past the bathroom, which is next to my bedroom, and saw that both of the windows were open and there were two people pulling on one of the burglar guards,” said Kelly.
“It was very dark. There were no lights in the house. I screamed at them, demanding to know what they were doing. My first thought was to get the alarm going and make a noise. I pressed the panic button, ran to the bedroom and locked the door.” The men quickly abandoned attempts at breaking into the home and fled from the property.
His security company, Blue Security, did not respond to the panic button alarm. Kelly said a few minutes went by and he contacted Blue Security and informed them of the incident. “I was told that the alarm hadn’t shown on their board and there must be a technical fault and that someone would come through in the morning.” A few minutes later an armed response car arrived.
“I pressed the same panic alarm at about 8.30am and got a response almost immediately. When they called to say the alarm went off, I asked to speak to a manager. The call was then cut off after being transferred around the departments. I tried a few more times to call them back to explain that my life was at risk but the phone didn’t even ring and my call was cut off. I then dialled the same number from my second phone and got through immediately,” said Noel. He believed his first number had been blocked by the company.
This is nonsense. I am a paying customer and my life was at risk. The least they could do is answer my call, – said Noel.
Blue Security’s sales director, Paul Romeril, responded:
“When Mr Kelly’s life was at risk we responded within two seconds to his call for help when he phoned us to report the attempted burglary at around 3.30am on Friday morning. We immediately dispatched an armed response vehicle, which arrived at his home in less than five minutes.
“However, when the customer had pressed his panic button a few minutes earlier, our control centre did not receive the signal and this may have been for one of two reasons. Either it could be a ‘user error,’ meaning the panic button was not pressed correctly (it is recommended to press down the button for at least one to two seconds), or there was a technical fault with his alarm system and/or with the radio communicator that transmits the signal from his system to our control centre.
“When Mr Kelly called our control centre at around 3.30am the controller, apart from immediately sending the armed response vehicle, also advised him that a fault would be logged for a technician to visit him to test his alarm system to find out why the signal had not been received.
“Regarding the customer’s concerns about how we handled his complaint when he pressed his panic button several hours later at 8.30am, we received this signal and immediately called him. His life was not under threat at this time but he complained about pressing the panic button in the early hours of the morning and that his life had been at risk. He asked to speak to a company director. Unfortunately, a director was not available to take the call immediately and he was transferred to the control centre manager and then to our customer services department to speak to a senior manager. However, he declined and instead opted to leave a message for a director.
“As soon as the director was available the client was contacted immediately, and an offer was made to meet with him at his home to discuss his concerns and to urgently send out a team of technicians to establish the reason the signal had not been received. Unfortunately, the customer declined our offer as he was of the opinion that the fault was due to a ‘people problem’ and that there was no way that it may have been due to a technical fault that the signal was not received.
“I offered Mr Kelly a personal meeting to discuss all of his concerns but he declined all forms of assistance, which I found disappointing.
“As a corporate member of the SA Intruder Detection Services Association, an independent industry body, our control centre staff and procedures are subject to the strictest industry standards.”
